Got New Platys Today!

[TheSims3Dude]

Heys!
I bought some new platys, I just got home about 20 minutes ago and now I released them into the tank, here's what they look like,
I blueish black one is the male, and the two orange ones are the females, I want to breed them so I'll let you know if it happens, and pics of them throughout their pregnancy!

(male)

(female)

(other female)

All Of 'Em


What do you guys think?
And suggestions for offspring color?

 

[omega59]

The lower orange one looks pregnant already lol. How many gals is the tank and how longs is it running?

 

[TheSims3Dude]

It's a 5.5 gallon tank, and it's been running for about 6 months,

 

[Harlequins]

Nice looking Platys

I found with my red & orange platys the fry tend to be more prominent orange colours,be interesting to see if the male colour with eventually come out future fry drops

 

[TheSims3Dude]

Yepp! The thing is, their not moving very much, are they just scared? I checked the water stats last night,
Ammonia = 0 ppm,
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 180 ppm


I know the nitrate is really high, so I cleaned the tank (50-60% water change)
and it went down to 40-80 ppm, so I cleaned it about another 20% water change, their still not moving very much this morning, kind of just idling in one spot...
Any suggestions?

 

[OldMan47]

I would give them a chance to get used to their new surroundings as long as your water is OK. In general platies prefer fairly hard water compared to the tetras and barbs that many people keep. It may be that you need to boost mineral content a bit depending on what kind of water you have from the tap.

 

[5teady_2012]

What temp is your tank currently at?

 

[TheSims3Dude]

I believe my temp right now is 78 F,
one of the platys died (female) the other female is swimming around now, but the male still stays in one spot,
since the ratio if off now, should I get one more female today? I'm going to the pet store in a bit, so I was thinking I should get one (a different pet store)
I'm thinking maybe I should get a male too, as this guy doesn't look to healthy....

 

[biokid101]

well not all liveearers fight or harrass each other if the ratio is bad i believe, but i would get another male and 2 females if thats ok for the tank

 

[OldMan47]

Before you go adding any more fish, it is important to know why the ones already in the tank are not doing well. If you just got some bad stock that is one thing, but if there is anything wrong, you will just keep losing fish. The 2 to 1 ratio is for a lightly stocked livebearer tank where there is room for the stocking ratio to be worked out. I have kept simple pairs of fish that were fine, but it needs closer watching to make sure the male doesn't harass the female too much. If he does, you can always put him in a breeder net or use a tank divider.

Do you have a pH reading on your tank water?

 

[Harlequins]

Sorry to hear you lost a female,i agree with oldman,you need to find the cause before adding more platys

 

[TheSims3Dude]

I checked the pH, It was 7.0,
the other female died because she was bad stock , I could see she wasn't a very healthy fish, so I cleaned the tank, and I changed the carbon and ammonia? filter, I'm going to change the foam filter in a week or so, (hasn't been done in a couple months, but it says to change the carbon once a month, the ammonia one every 2 months, and the foam every 3 months,... so that's what I'm going to do, I did get another fish (I didn't see the replies before I went out) but their all a lot better now, swimming together and no sickness whatsoever, the one female wouldn't eat when I fed her (which is why she died probably) but the 2F/1M are doing just fine now! Thanks though!

 

[Harlequins]

Personally i wouldn't change any of your filter media,just give them a rinse in used tank water,sponges etc doesn't need replacing until they are literally falling apart...

If you change for new ones your tank will certainly have a spike and will go into a mini cycle has you are basically throwing away the bacteria you've built up in your filter.

These companies only say to change them to make money...

 

[5teady_2012]

Nearly all filters now a days are made for certain parts of the filter media to be changed, but there is always the main 1 or 2 or sometimes more that u dont cos as above says, it holds the bacteria, And also as above says, the media you never change, you clean in fish tank water (in a bucket or summat) if and when media does need re-newing, never do them all at once, always do them one by one over a period of time, to have less chance of little spikes.

I agree completely with harlequins and would not change any of the media, unless its just floss (usually white)....

also agree not to add anymore until you find the cause, but if u are sure it was just bad stock, maybe wait a week or so just to make sure the other are fine before adding others.

 

[TheSims3Dude]

I checked on the fish this morning, their all doing great now! All swimming with each other and such, even the male is more active now, so I think it was just like Oldman said, that he was still getting used to the tank.